Out of the Chamber
by blaaah92
Summary: After leaving the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter realizes he needs to make some changes to the way he's living his life. Up till now he's managed to survive purely on luck. But Harry decides to be more than lucky; he wants to be a great wizard.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter didn't often think things through. It wasn't that Harry was an unintelligent boy, on the contrary, Harry was very smart. But being in Gryffindor, where reckless (as the Slytherins' would call it, foolish) bravery was lauded over cautious, cunning planning, Harry was more likely to rush into action than to just sit down and think.

Of course, Harry's choice of friends only made matters worse. On the one hand, there was Ron Weasley, who always corralled Harry into playing games and chatting rather than studying or doing homework. And on the other end of the spectrum was Hermione Granger, a very intelligent young girl who, instead of enabling Harry and Ron to figure things out themselves, always rushed to provide them with answers. It was not surprising that between the two of them Harry never had much time for uninterrupted intellectual thought.

In his first year at Hogwarts Harry had actually been provided with a few golden opportunities for self-evaluation. One such time was when he and Ron had pitted themselves against a fully grown mountain troll. The rush of adrenaline had temporarily blinded him while the actual event was taking place (after all what else would inspire an eleven year old child to jump on a troll's back and stick his wand up the creature's nose?), but nevertheless there should have been some reflection in the aftermath.

After all, what business did two children with hardly any spells in their arsenal have facing such a dangerous creature? They could have easily alerted a teacher or prefect that Hermione was missing instead, and have them go and save her. Once Harry had calmed down some, he should have realized just how lucky they were to have survived at all. He should have realized the stupidity of his actions, but then again, when he was being rewarded for his actions by his own head of house...well, it stopped that train of thought.

And then, of course, there were the end of the year events. The three children had gone down with no idea of what to expect. It is hard to find words to describe how blessed they were that the challenges, created to stop adults from reaching the stone, were simple enough for three eleven year olds to bypass. And said eleven year olds should not have been rewarded so greatly by their headmaster that Gryffindor would end up taking the house cup.

So it was no surprise that Harry had never paused to think that maybe going to save the stone was wrong. But during his second year of school, Harry did have that moment of realization. It came after his relief that he had indeed gotten Ginny to safety. Standing there, covered in blood and sweat and grime, the words of praise that Dumbledore and Molly heaped on him simply could not be taken in Harry was still in shock. But when he had gotten over the shock, in a rare moment of insight Harry saw how unprepared he had been for the task. Had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat not appeared, Harry would not have been able to take on Tom Riddle alone.

He was not skilled enough to fight the sixteen year old wizard. And this wasn't only because he was twelve. Harry had never put in enough effort at school and it showed in his magical abilities. When Harry did practice a spell, he could perform it with much more power than most of his peers. But most of the time Harry didn't practice, or didn't research new spells. Currently, his abilities were only mediocre.

And while there was nothing wrong with mediocre, Harry suddenly knew that it didn't suit him. Events the past two years had shown, if nothing else, that Harry would often be in dangerous situations and needed the knowledge to protect himself. Furthermore, Harry hated that people judged him as the "Boy -Who-Lived", that his greatest accomplishment to date happened when he was too young to remember . He wanted to be more than the "Boy-Who-Lived". He wanted to be known for his actions now, not then. And the only way to make that happen was to prove he was a great wizard.

Lying in his Hospital Wing bed, Harry knew that from now on things would have to change. He could no longer sit back and allow Hermione to do work for him, that would do him no good. After all, Hermione couldn't take his tests for him, and when he needed to know something on the fly, Hermione would not always be there either.

Thinking about Hermione and Ron, Harry also noticed that being with them led him to ignoring everyone else around him. As a first year, coming in from a life where he had never had any friends, Harry had been ecstatic to have friends and clung to Hermione and Ron heavily. Now that he thought about it, Harry found that he hardly knew anything about his dorm mates Dean, Seamus and Neville, even though they had shared a room for two years.

And there were so many other students to meet too, people that he met in other classes and always thought were nice enough, but never bothered to get to know further. No wonder everyone had accused him of being the heir of Slytherin when they learned he was a Parselmouth. They hadn't known him well enough to tell otherwise.

'From now on things are going to be different,' Harry thought to himself before nodding off. And the next morning, when Madame Pomfrey reluctantly released him from the Hospital Wing, Harry took this personal vow to heart.

It started with breakfast at the Great Hall. Since it was a weekend, Ron was still sleeping in, and Hermione was waiting on Ron, but Neville was already at the table and Harry took a seat by him.

"Morning Harry," Neville said cheerfully.

"Hi Neville," Harry answered, feeling completely out of his element. Neville was a nice guy, but Harry didn't know what to say to him, how to start up a conversation. But Harry wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing and he would try anyways.

"Have you finished the Herbology essay on the Abyssinian shrivel figs? I wasn't really paying attention in Herbology that day and now all I can find on the shrivel figs is their property in potions—which isn't really related to what we're doing in Herbology."

"Do you need to know how to prune them?" Neville asked. "I mean I could tell you how but it would be better if we went to greenhouse 3 and I showed you how to." Neville said.

"Do you reckon Professor Sprout would mind?" Harry asked, while reaching for a sticky bun.

"I don't think so, Professor Sprout always appreciates it when students show interest in her subject, but we should ask her anyways before going down there."

"That sounds fine." Harry said, finishing his sticky bun and wiping his hands on a nearby napkin. "Would you mind if we went right now?"

"Not at all, I'm done with breakfast."

Both boys ended up heading out before neither Hermione nor Ron made it to breakfast. Half an hour later, both Ron and Hermione would wonder where Harry had gotten to.

Meanwhile, Neville and Harry were on the way to Professor Sprout's office. Professor Sprout had an open door policy—the door to her office was always open—and she always welcomed any students with any questions or concerns.

She was honestly not surprised to see Neville come to her office. Neville was a sweet boy, but he was very shy and clumsy and had a hard time making friends. He liked to spend a lot of his free time in the greenhouses helping her with tending the plants.

She was, however, very surprised to see Harry Potter come to her office with Neville. Harry always seemed like a nice enough boy, but he had never taken much interest in her class. He did enough work to get average grades, but had never put in more effort than that.

It was Neville who spoke up. "Harry wants to see and practice pruning the Abyssinian shrivel figs again. Is it okay if I take him?"

Professor Sprout hesitated a bit, but she would give the Potter boy another chance. "Sure Neville, just be careful he doesn't harm the plants. Professor Snape needs them—the third years are brewing Shrinking Solutions.

"Okay professor." Neville said, before taking off with Harry towards greenhouse 3. In his favorite subject, Neville was always more comfortable and confident, and he practically dragged Harry towards the greenhouse in his eagerness.

The two boys reached the greenhouse and stopped before the shrivel fig plants. When Neville started to talk, Harry listened intently.

"Shrivel fig plants need to be pruned because otherwise the plant puts more energy into growing new shoots than it does into growing shrivel figs, and shrivel figs are important for their use in the shrinking solution. It is more important to prune the plant's vertical shoots than the horizontal ones, because they grow faster and are less likely to bear shrivel fig fruit. When you prune the plant, you need to either cut the shoot off where it begins, or where a horizontal shoot is growing out of it. If you cut a shoot in the middle it will grow back very fast. The shoots that are pruned will eventually grow back, so the plant needs to be pruned every six months."

When Neville spoke about plants, he spoke passionately and Harry couldn't help but listen. After Neville had explained they both got to work pruning the plants that had been pruned incorrectly during their last class. It was strangely calming to stand by Neville and prune the shrivel fig branches. Harry was glad he'd come.

When they were done they had a huge pile of branches before them, and some of the branches had actual shrivel figs attached. Harry looked at Neville hesitantly, and asked, "Are we actually going to throw these away?"

"No of course not. We didn't go over it in class, but Professor Sprout showed me how to peel them." Neville said with a surge of pride. "You have to peel them to make any use of them in potions. Here, look. You do it by gently pulling off the stem, and that takes off some of the skin as well. Then you use a paring knife to peel the rest of the skin away. Put the peeled shrivel figs in this container, and then Professor Sprout will give them to Snape later."

At first Neville and Harry peeled the shrivel figs in silence, but after a while when Harry felt he didn't need to concentrate as much to get the job done, they started to converse.

"When did you start liking Herbology so much?" Harry asked Neville.

"At home, we have a few greenhouses, and I've always loved to go there and look at the plants. I still love to, and sometimes I even get to care for some of them. My Great Uncle Algie likes plants too, and he sometimes shows me how to care for them. My Gran doesn't appreciate it much, though. She always says that playing with plants isn't as important as learning real magic."

"Ignore her. I mean, yeah, plants aren't going to protect you in a fight, but if its something you love to do you should definitely devote time to it. In a way, you know, my aunt is sort of like that. She always makes me feel like I'm not good enough in her eyes. But over the years I learned that no matter what I'll never be good enough in her eyes, so I might as well do stuff that will at least make me proud of myself, you know?"

"It's not exactly like that for me." Neville said. "I mean, I know my Gran loves me, its just that she wants me to be exactly like my dad, her son, and I'm not him. He was an auror and strong and brave and fought in the war, and I'm not like that."

"Well that's stupid. I mean, you're not him. Even if you were all of that stuff—though Neville, I still think you probably have it in you to be brave, you are a Gryffindor after all—but even if you were all that stuff you couldn't be expected to be the same person. Everybody is always comparing me to my parents too. They always say that I look like my dad but I have my mom's eyes. I always get that. Why can't I just look like me, a completely new person? I sometimes feel like people look at me and they see my dad, or they see my mom, but they don't see me. And its frustrating because I never knew my dad or my mom. I mean, I've imagined what they're like loads of times, but I don't really know what they were like. And if I don't know what they're like, and I never met them, and I grew up under different circumstances, how can I be expected to be like them at all? Sorry, I'm ranting, it's just frustrating."

"It's fine. I don't know my parents either—just stories people tell me about them, and my Gran talks about my dad a lot. It's hard because even though my parents are alive, they aren't really there, so I don't know them. They, at the end of the war, Death Eaters tortured them and they went crazy. I visit them sometimes with my Gran, but its like whatever made them who they were isn't there. Visiting them, it's like looking at empty shells or something."

"Wow, Neville. I mean, I'd say 'I'm sorry', but I know that doesn't really help with anything. I guess we both lost our parents in the war, huh?"

"Yeah" Neville replied.

"Come on, lets bring these shrivel figs back to Professor Sprout"

Neville picked up the container and they ran back to Professor Sprout's office. After handing off the shrivel figs they walked back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry still had to write his essay, though he now knew exactly what to say. And if he mentioned how to peel the shrivel figs he might even get extra credit.

But before he could get started on the essay, Harry ran into Ron and Hermione. The two immediately interrogated him.

"Where have you been Harry? We've been looking for you all day!" Hermione yelled at him.

"Yeah Harry, where were you mate?" Ron added.

"When I was released from the Hospital Wing I went to breakfast and you weren't there yet. I had breakfast with Neville and then he took me to the greenhouse to show me how to prune shrivel figs—I didn't remember how to and I need to know for the Herbology essay. We just came back now. Why, did I miss something?"

"No, well, we were all discussing what electives we're taking next year." Hermione replied.

"Well, what electives is everybody taking?" Harry asked.

"I couldn't decide on only three so I'm going to try to take all of them." Hermione told him.

"But Hermione, how can you take all of them? There won't be room in your schedule! Besides, won't it be too much work to handle?" Harry asked her.

"Well I'm going to submit a list with all of them and then see what professor McGonagall says. If she says I can't I'll drop some, but it's worth a try."

Harry could see that he wouldn't get through to her, so he turned instead to Ron.

"How about you, Ron? What classes are you going to take?"

"I'm signing up for Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Divination is supposed to be an easy pass. You should sign up for those too, Harry. Then we'll be together in all of our classes."

"I haven't really had the time to look into the classes, and I'm not sure Divination will interest me. I mean, looking into the future is dodgy stuff... Besides, if I really wanted an easy pass I would just take muggle studies. Anyways, I need more time to decide what classes I'll take." Harry hedged and turned to Neville before Ron could respond. "What about you Neville, have you decided yet?"

"Gran will want me to take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. She reckons they're the only worthwhile subjects we can choose."

"So Harry, you really don't know what you're going to choose?" Hermione asked him.

"Yeah, I don't know enough about the subjects to choose. I think I'm going to go to Professor McGonagall and ask her for her opinion."

"That's a good idea, Harry." Hermione told him excitedly.

"No it's not!" Ron yelled. "Professor McGonagall will just tell Harry to take all of the hard classes. She won't understand that blokes like us need some free time to just have fun."

"Ron, just because Professor McGonagall gives me advice doesn't mean I actually have to take it. I'm just curious about what she has to say."

With that said, Harry left the common room without waiting for Ron to respond. Professor McGonagall's office was directly across from the Transfiguration classroom. Harry had never gone in before, but he knew it was there. Unlike with Professor Sprout, the door was not always open, and Harry needed to knock to get in. Harry knocked hesitantly, but soon he was in the office seated before Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was not a patient woman. He knew she would not wait there endlessly for him to speak, so he had to start. Now.

"Professor, as you know, we get to choose electives at the end of the year. I was wondering if you could give me a bit of advice—I don't know much about any of the classes. Ron's doing Divination and Care of Magical Creatures...but I'm not sure I want to take those classes."

"Divination, Mr. Potter, is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. True seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney...(PoA5). Professor McGonagall stopped for a moment, then said "If you were a true seer, chances are you would certainly know by now, Potter. Now as for Care of Magical Creatures, it all depends on what you see yourself doing in the future. Potter, I would only advise you to take Care of Magical Creatures if you intend to work with creatures in the future, as the subject has little to no application in most ministry jobs."

"Professor, in Defense we sometimes study creatures. How does this class differ from that?"

"Potter, when you study creatures in Defense you study them with the intent of learning how to defeat them should you come across them. On the other hand, Care of Magical Creatures, as the name implies, only teaches how to treat and care for such creatures."

"What about the other classes?"

"Well Mr. Potter, I think it's fair to say that you have no business in muggle studies. That leaves two classes, Ancient Runes and of course Arithmancy. Each class is useful in a different way. Ancient Runes will ultimately enable you to access and understand old texts, but it also is very important in a branch of magic called warding. Most wards are based on runes, so knowing runes therefore will eventually enable you to create wards, and since the purpose of most wards is to protect, that is a very useful skill to possess."

"And what about the other, Arithmancy?"

"Arithmancy is the study of numbers and their magical properties. Initially, this class may seem far removed from your other subjects, but it actually ties in theoretically with all other classes. Numbers play a role in potions, determining how many of each ingredient is used as well as how many times to stir, but they also relate to all spellwork. All wanded magic requires that you move your wand a certain amount of times, and this does relate to the theories of numbers. Understanding numbers will eventually allow a student to experiment and create new magic, whether it be spells or potions."

Harry was amazed. Both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy sounded like great classes. But he had wanted to take three electives, not just two. He didn't want to seem like he was just getting by by taking only the minimum amount of classes.

"Professor, I know that I want to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, but I really wanted to take 3 electives, not two, though none of the other classes seem right for me. Any suggestions?"

"The Hogwarts curriculum does not cover all classes available for students to learn. Dark Arts, for instance, are not taught at Hogwarts but are taught at Durmstang, another European school. We don't teach the Dark Arts here at Hogwarts because we fear that class encourages students to harm each other. However, students who learn the Dark Arts can take OWLS and NEWTS in that subject.

Another subject that is not taught at Hogwarts is healing. Although we have a qualified instructor for healing, Madame Pomfrey, healing is a very difficult subject which can not be taught in a large classroom environment. Healing requires large quantities of raw power, as well as concentration and intent. Mistakes in healing are sometimes irreversible. Therefore we felt it unwise to offer healing as an elective at Hogwarts. However, in the past we have been known to allow select students to take private classes with Madame Pomfrey in healing, and then sit the OWLS and NEWTS in this subject.

These students are expected to be very responsible, Potter. They have to swear to keep their studies secret from the rest of the students, and furthermore they have to swear to not use their healing magic either on other students or on themselves, unless Madam Pomfrey says otherwise. Many students end up dropping out of the class because of the level of difficulty. If you are still interested, I will contact Madame Pomfrey in your name and you may take this class in addition to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes at the start of the next school year. However, you must be aware, Mr. Potter, that any signs that you have broken these promises will result in you being summarily kicked out of that class. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall. I would greatly appreciate it if you spoke to Madame Pomfrey about accepting me into her class."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Now off you go."

Harry's mind was spinning as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. He couldn't believe it. Next year, he would be taking Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, History of Magic, Herbology, Defense against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Healing. Ten subjects. This year, he had taken only seven subjects and could have done much better. Going into next year, with such a greater workload, he had no choice but to buckle down.

And buckling down, for the most part, would have to start this summer. With only a week until the end of final term, Harry would find himself doing most of his schoolwork over the summer. But this train of thought led him to the inevitable snag in his plans. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia always locked away his school trunk the moment he entered their home in Privet Drive. How was he to study textbooks, revise, and work on summer essays if everything was locked away?

If only he could get everything he needed—textbooks, quills, parchment, and assignments—under the floorboard in his room. Then he would have access to them all summer. And while Harry wasn't ever enthused about schoolwork like Hermione was, he knew perfectly well that doing schoolwork would be a great improvement over sitting in his room doing nothing all summer.

And of course, all these matters were complicated by the fact that he couldn't do magic over the summer. If only he could use his wand, then he could easily unlock the cupboard under the stairs and sneak his important belongings up to his room. Using an item wouldn't be a problem, he could, for instance, lug everything up in his invisibility cloak to his room. But though the ministry wouldn't catch on, his aunt and uncle would sure find it strange to see him carrying an invisible package. Maybe that was the way to go, then. He needed to find a magical item which would enable him to get everything to his room without being caught. And if he owl-ordered it now, it would hopefully get there before he left for home. All he needed was access to a magical catalogue to look for something that met his requirements.

As soon as he entered Gryffindor Tower, he noticed that all of his year was still in the common room. Ron was playing wizarding chess with Seamus. Dean was sitting by the window drawing. Lavender and Parvati were in a corner to the side, giggling. Hermione was sitting with a pile of books before her, but when she saw him enter she motioned him over. And Neville, well Neville was by Hermione, but he didn't seem to be studying.

Harry went over to their table and sat in between Hermione and Neville. Hermione immediately dropped what she was doing and asked about his discussion with Professor McGonagall.

"I talked with her for a while, and I'm definitely going to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. They seem like the best." Harry said, neglecting to mention that he would also be taking Healing.

"I'm so glad for you Harry! It was so responsible of you to go to speak with Professor McGonagall. Of course, all of the classes have potential and different importance, I'd really appreciate the chance to take them all, but I'm glad you're not just taking classes that seem easy, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, smiling. "And we'll have all our classes together, huh, Neville? Or have you decided to take different classes?"

"No, I'll definitely take those classes. In my house you don't go against what my Gran says."

"Hey Neville, I was wondering if you have any wizarding catalogues I could take a look at. I need to order some kind of pack or bag that conceals stuff."

"Harry, what do you need that for?" Hermione interrupted, sounding quite scandalized.

"Hermione, you know the Dursleys don't like magic. They always take my school trunk with all of my textbooks and work and lock it away—I always end up having to do everything last minute and the professors get mad. I was hoping I could hide all the stuff I needed in a pack and carry it with me to my room, so I could have a chance at actually getting everything done on time."

"Of course, Harry. I have a pile of catalogues in my trunk, in case I need anything, but I usually don't use them. You're welcome to borrow them and place an order." said Neville.

As Neville ran up to the dorms to grab the catalogues Hermione actually congratulated Harry for his initiative to get schoolwork done.

It didn't take Harry long flipping through the catalogues to find what he was looking for, an invisibility pack. This device was like a normal backpack, except it had been fitted with some minor expansion as well as an invisibility booster. Harry could put all of his textbooks in the bag, and press a button, and then the bag would become invisible. This way the Dursleys wouldn't see him carrying all his important possessions to his room. Harry quickly shelled out the money, 5 galleons, and sent Hedwig with the order to Diagon Alley.

In a way, for Harry, it felt strange that only two days had passed since the events in the Chamber of Secrets, when he had rescued Ginny Weasley. Hardly any time had passed and yet he had made so many steps to change himself. But in other ways it wasn't so strange. Harry was a resolved little boy. He had been resolved to save the Sorcerer's Stone, and so he did. This year, he had been resolved to save Ginny, and so he had. And now he was resolved to change himself, and so he would.

_Author's Note: Hi everyone! I've put a lot of effort into this story—this chapter is 8 and ¼ pages long, and I would really appreciate reviews (good and bad) to let me know how I'm doing and how to improve. I would also like to thank my beta ElDani, for looking over this chapter and catching the stupid mistakes that I seem to miss. _


	2. Chapter 2

The school year hadn't ended yet, but it might as well have. Harry handed in his last essay that morning in Professor Sprout's class. It was the essay on shrivel figs that Neville had helped him on a few days ago, and Harry had never before anticipated such a good grade in Herbology class. Yes, there were still classes, but for the most part students and teachers alike were biding their time until school ended that very week and they were all sent home on the Hogwarts Express.

The common room was busier than usual at this time of year. The students, who no longer had any assignments to finish, occupied themselves with games, laughter, and general silliness that made the common room a much louder environment. Only Harry was not having as much fun as his friends. The anticipated return to the Dursleys sucked all the enthusiasm out of him. While his friends eagerly waited for their summer vacations, Harry could only hope it would all fly by quickly and he would be back at Hogwarts in no time.

Still, despite the general state of his bad mood, Harry refused to go back on any of the promises he made to himself. And one such promise was to get to know his classmates better. It would do no good for Harry to ignore Neville so soon after striking a somewhat tenuous friendship with him days earlier. So now Harry split up his time a bit more evenly. Instead of devoting all of his free time to his two friends Ron and Hermione, Harry always reserved some of that time for hanging out with Neville Longbottom.

The results were definitely worthwhile. Not only was Neville great company, but he also had a lot of information to share with Harry. Although Harry had grown up like a muggle-born, he was always treated like a half-blood. In other words, this meant that the people around Harry assumed he understood wizarding culture, even though he had not grown up in it.

And though Ron was a pure-blood, and had no doubt been trained by his parents regarding at least the very basics of pure-blood thought and tradition, Ron never shared this wealth of information with Harry. Other things, such as chess or quidditch, were more important to Ron than tradition. But Neville, who had grown up as the scion of the House of Longbottom, Neville, who would eventually inherit the title Lord Longbottom, knew and was willing to share much more about pure-blood tradition.

Which was good, because Harry was also the heir to the House of Potter. And one day, when Harry came of age, he would take on the title of Lord Potter and all the duties that came with it. And right now, Harry had no idea what he would do when that moment came. It was not just a matter of tradition, either. Harry just didn't know how the wizarding government worked.

"There are seven departments in the Ministry of Magic, and each is in charge of something else, but in terms of political power there are two government bodies that are the most important." Neville told Harry as they sat in two plushy red chairs in the Gryffindor commons. "One is the position of Minister of Magic. He has the power to create new laws and decrees. However, the new laws have to be sanctioned, and that brings me to the other important government body, the Wizengamot.

The Wizengamot is a council of roughly 50 members, all of which belong to the elite wizarding society. All of the Ancient and Noble Houses, like Longbottom, Malfoy and Potter house, have seats in the Wizengamot. The Wizengamot members vote on the outcomes of trials, choose whether or not to sanction the Minister of Magic's new laws, they elect the new Minister of Magic to office, and can even vote the current Minister out of office."

"Wait, but Neville, if I have a seat in the Wizengamot how come I've never been in a meeting?"

"Even though you're the heir of Potter house you're too young to attend Wizengamot meetings. Your magical guardian was appointed to hold your seat in your place until you are of age, and to vote in the name of Potter house. It's the same for me, I can't vote yet, but my Gran gets to vote in my name until such a time when I can take on the duties of Lord Longbottom."

"But Neville, how do I know who my magical guardian is or if they are representing my best interests? I mean, I've always lived with the Dursleys and known them to be my guardians. I didn't even know that I had a magical guardian."

"I don't know Harry, but I can ask Gran who is currently holding the Potter seat and she'll probably know."

"I mean, I guess I can leave it for now. It isn't immediately important to me—it's not like I know enough about government or law or tradition to vote accurately even if I wanted to. And even if I did know I wouldn't really be ready to deal with it. I guess what matters more is how my magical guardian hasn't ever been a part of my life, and how they got the power to place me with the Dursleys."

"Look, Harry, I'll ask my Gran about it and I'm nearly positive she'll know the answer. Until then there's nothing to do about this summer, huh?"

"Yeah, and I can't even scare them with magic anymore because they know I can't do it since I'm underage."

"Wait, what do you mean scare them with magic?"

"Last summer I went home and though I didn't actually do any magic, I would say a bunch of nonsense words and wave my arms around and they would think I was performing a spell. This would scare them, and they would mostly leave me alone. But towards the end of the summer, Malfoy's former house elf, Dobby, popped over to my house and warned me not to go to Hogwarts because of the great dangers. He was referring to the Chamber of Secrets, but I didn't know it at the time.

Anyways, when I refused to promise not to go to Hogwarts, Dobby charmed my aunt's fancy cake to fall on top of one of their dinner guests. Moments afterward, an owl came from the Improper Use of Magic office with a warning for me not to use underage magic. Since then, they know that I can't use magic so they just lock up all of my magical stuff—wand, broom, books, everything—and lord their power over me all summer. I have to do chores and often I am not even allowed to leave my room because they don't want to see me. It's very frustrating."

"It must be," said Neville. "Not that I don't get annoyed with my summers either. My Gran, I love her, but she can be very overbearing. But at the end of the day I know she's my Gran and she loves me so I can overlook some of my problems with her. Nobody's perfect."

"I wish I had some relatives left that weren't the Dursleys, some wizarding relatives. Not that I mind them being muggles, it's just that they don't like me because of my magic, so I can never get along with them."

Before Neville could respond, an interruption came in the form of Ron and Hermione. Harry gave Neville a very apologetic glance before heading off with his other friends on a walk around the school grounds.

"Hey Harry, what were you and Neville doing for so long?" Ron asked in a slightly bitter tone. Hermione had not said a word, but Harry could tell she was curious as well.

Harry had to approach this cautiously. On the one hand, Harry did not want to lose his oldest and closest friends. On the other hand, he knew he could not continue being only their friend, and needed to meet and get to know other people as well. From his short time with Neville, Harry could tell he was a very nice guy and would make a great and loyal friend. If Ron and Hermione were true friends, they wouldn't require him to give that up for the sake of their friendship.

"Neville and I were just talking."

"About what?" Hermione asked insistently. "You were talking for a very long time."

Harry knew that if he refused to answer the nosy question both of them would get angry and upset, so he did give Hermione some information, "Just about the wizarding government. Neville's going to be the head of Longbottom house, so his family is involved in wizarding politics."

"How does that make his family involved in the politics?" Hermione asked, brimming with genuine interest and anticipation.

But before Harry could answer, Ron interrupted. "Harry, don't tell me you're interested in all of that pure-blood aristocratic stuff?"

"Neville's family plays a role in the Wizengamot, Hermione, which is like the Wizarding equivalent of Parliament except they also get to rule in trials. The Wizengamot also elects the Minister of Magic, and can pass or veto new laws. The reason Neville's family is a part of this is because the Wizengamot is made up of mostly rich, pure-blooded ancient families. Since Neville will eventually be Lord Longbottom, a few years from now he will get to participate in the Wizengamot.

But Ron, it's not that I'm really interested in pure-blood aristocratic stuff, it's more that this is the way our current government works. This is the way the world we live in now works, and eventually I will have a role in it too. Just like Neville will be Lord Longbottom one day, I will be Lord Potter one day and it's important for me to know how everything works."

"Harry, you'll really be a lord one day?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Well, yeah. I mean, my dad was a pure-blood, and the house of Potter is actually known as the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. When my parents died, I was the only remaining heir of the house of Potter, which means that when I come of age I become Lord Potter."

While Hermione found this all new and interesting (not everyone could say they were best friends with a future lord), Ron grumbled unhappily to himself on the side. Although the Weasleys were pure-blooded, they were not financially sound enough to take part in the Wizengamot. And even if his parents did make more money, only his eldest brother Bill would stand chance to eventually be a Wizengamot member.

Although Ron hated Malfoy's guts, he privately admitted, if only to himself, that Malfoy was right when he said that his parents had more children than they could afford. Bill was born in 1970, two years later came Charlie, four years after that was Percy, two years later Fred and George were born, two years after that came Ron, and then Ginny was born a year later. And as the sixth son, Ron came off worst out of everyone.

Bill was first-born, so he never had hand-me-downs. He received all new clothes and all new school books as well. As the second son, Charlie did receive some hand-me-downs, but they were all in pretty new condition and he did get a wand of his very own. But as the hand-me-downs went from one boy to the next, clothes that used to be Bill's and Charlie's used by Percy, than Fred or George, the condition of these items grew worse and worse. And with each additional boy there was less money to go around for getting brand new items. Such that by the time Ron got to go to Hogwarts, he was not only wearing very well-used robes, but he didn't even get his own wand—the wand he was using was Charlie's old one.

Ginny, who was born a year after him, had the best of luck. As the only girl in the family, she got all new clothes. Sure, some of them were from second-hand stores, but they were in much better condition than what Ron got and they fit her perfectly in size (Ron's robes were often too short). Furthermore, with no more old wands to hand out, Ginny got a new wand as well.

The Weasley parents were not bad parents. It was clear that they loved their children. But sometimes they could be a bit selfish. On a younger unattached man Arthur's desire to stay in his favorite job was admirable. But with seven children to provide for, it was selfish of Arthur to turn down the multiple offers for promotions. And as much as Molly loved being a mother, she should have not let her desire for a daughter push her to have seven kids. After all, at some point there's just no way to devote enough individual time to any of them.

And as the sixth boy, not only had Ron gotten the worst supplies out of all his siblings, but he had also ended up in the most difficult place. For all of his brothers had had their great accomplishments already. It was a constant comparison. If he lived up to what his brothers did, he would only be repeating their previous successes. And if he performed worse, than he would be the least successful brother. Ron felt trapped in his position. He wanted to be the best out of all of them, but didn't know how.

Or at least, he didn't completely know how. Ron was the only boy in his family who was friends with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and that was pretty special. The problem was, although Ron did get attention for being Harry's friend, people inevitably cared more for Harry than him.

And then it became easy to get jealous of Harry, who had the fame, the money, and no family to drag him down. Harry, who would one day be a lord and part of the Wizengamot and could change the world or take part in it, should he so choose.

But even with all of this jealousy, Ron knew that being Harry's friend was preferable to not being his friend at all. For if he wasn't Harry's best friend, Ron would be just another red headed Weasley, just the sixth boy and nothing more. So when he saw Neville encroaching on Harry's time, Ron couldn't help it. He grew jealous.

Harry was not blind to Ron's jealousy and anger. Walking with Ron and Hermione, he could tell that Ron was upset that Harry would be a lord in a few years time. And Harry, who came from quite a different background, could not really understand Ron. For if Harry Potter could trade all of his money, all of his fame, everything, and get his parents back in exchange, Harry would do it in a heartbeat. Harry didn't see competition when he saw all those brothers and one sister. He saw a huge supportive family that would always support and protect Ron. If Harry thought about it too long, he would get jealous too.

But Ron had been Harry's friend for awhile now, and Harry didn't want to lose that friendship over a stupid emotion like jealousy.

"You know, Ron, I bet you can be really great, even though you're not a lord." Harry told Ron as they walked by the lake.

"Yeah, you think, Harry? It's easy for you because you are one, to say 'oh yeah, you'll be really great!'" Ron mimicked Harry in an angry voice, "but I'm not one and I'm going to have to live through that, not you!"

"So you really think you're going to amount to nothing in life because you're not a lord, is that it Ron? Is that what you really think, that you're just going to be a nobody for the rest of your life?"

"Of course not!" Ron bellowed.

"Well that's pretty much what you're telling me. I told you, you could be really great, and you pretty much said, 'no, I won't be'. You know, there's no point in being depressed all the time about what you don't have, that doesn't change anything."

"Oh yeah, what do you know, Harry? It's easy for you to say don't spend all of your time thinking about how you don't have money, and aren't a lord, and aren't famous. That's rich coming from you, Harry. You have all of those things."

"I don't have a family. I don't have parents, Ron. And I could spend hours each day thinking about how sad it is that I'm an orphan and how much I wish my parents were alive but that wouldn't achieve anything except for wasting my time. You want to be a lord, Ron? The Weasleys are pure-blooded, all you're missing is money to make it happen. If you spend your time studying and working you could get a job and make money, maybe even enough money to get your own seat or something. And maybe if you work hard enough you can do something really brilliant and be famous too. Sure you're not any of those right now, at thirteen, but then again most people aren't. And if you spend all of your time obsessing over what you don't have it won't happen, either." Harry said.

"But if you apply yourself," he added with a hopeful tone, "you're really smart, and can think strategy very well—otherwise you wouldn't win all of those games of chess. I'm sure one day you really could be great if you work at it."

Ron nearly shouted at Harry but stopped himself. He was hot-tempered, yes, but what Harry was saying did make sense. And it wasn't like Harry had tried to insult him, he had only tried to get him to work harder—and that wasn't so bad. Hermione did that all of the time, and they argued a bit, but never got into full blown fights. So for once in his life Ron decided to be mature. He answered Harry calmly.

"Okay, so what do you think I should do?"

"Well, I think that at the very least you shouldn't take divination. I mean, does telling the future really interest you anyways? Besides, I'm not sure it's such an easy subject. If divination is so imprecise, then it's likely that it is really hard to predict something correctly. Or the professor might not know if you predicted something correctly because it hasn't happened yet and give you a bad grade."

"Harry, a professor wouldn't do that!" Hermione suddenly piped in, scandalized.

"I don't think they'd do it on purpose Hermione, I'm just saying how would they know if it is in the future and hasn't happened yet? They might make a mistake." Harry replied.

"So what should I take instead of Divination?" asked Ron.

"It depends what you find interesting. I suppose you could take muggle studies, that way you could understand some of our muggle references better. Or maybe you'd like Arithmancy since it has a lot of numbers and stuff and that's sort of related to strategy. You might be good at that. Or you could take both. I mean, you could take any other class, really, but I just figured you might be interested in those two."

So you think I should take Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and muggle studies?"

"You don't have to, but if you want to, then yeah."

"What about you, Harry? What classes are you taking?"

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

"That's only two. Why aren't you taking three, if you can?"

"I would if I could but none of the classes interest me. I'm not going to take muggle studies because I grew up the muggle way so I know that stuff. Besides, Professor McGonagall specifically told me not to take that class because I would just be taking it to get an easy pass. That only leaves Care of Magical Creatures, which I don't really want to take. See, I only like the work with creatures we do in defense when we fight them. I don't want to actually care for them."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Ron replied reluctantly.

"Yeah, I think I'll take CoMC, Arithmancy, and muggle studies. Worst case scenario I can always drop the class I like the least."

"Ron!" Hermione yelled, scandalized.

"What? I mean, I'll give it a chance and all but why should I have to suffer through a bad class if there is an option to not take it?"

Harry walked a step behind them as Ron and Hermione bickered. Harry wasn't naïve enough to think that all of Ron's jealousy issues had been resolved in one conversation, but it was a start, nonetheless. And a start was better than nothing. After all, Harry now had a start on dealing with most of his problems, and he certainly felt better. He had started to build a new friendship with Neville, he had started to work harder at school, and now he had started to fix problems in his older friendship with Ron and Hermione. The only problem he had left to deal with now was his stay at the Dursleys.

Yes, Harry had ordered the invisibility backpack, which would allow him to carry all of his most precious belongings to his room with him. But he had not dealt with some of the bigger issues surrounding the Dursleys. The Dursleys always worked him as hard as they could over summer, giving him endless lists of chores to do. That needed to stop—otherwise he wouldn't have time for the schoolwork, even if he did have access to it. Also, the Dursleys never fed Harry quite enough, and for a growing boy like Harry, it was very important to get the necessary nutrients.

Suddenly, Harry knew what he needed to do. Dobby was a free elf now, but he was very loyal to Harry. If Harry called Dobby to him, Dobby would probably be willing to make food for him all summer, and keep Harry from starving.

But before Harry summoned Dobby, he needed to make one stop. Harry bolted down the halls towards the hospital wing.

"Hi, Madame Pomfrey" Harry said, peaking his head through the door.

"What have you done to yourself, now, Mr. Potter? There are only two days left until end of term." She said in an exasperated tone.

"I'm not injured, I just have a question for you. I know I'm a bit short for my year and I was hoping if you could give me some recommendations for how to eat better. I'm hoping to gain a few inches over the summer."

"Come in, Mr. Potter. Sit down on the bed."

Harry sat on the bed, his hospital bed, and looked at Madame Pomfrey curiously.

"I'm going to run some exams on you now. They will check if you have any vitamin or nutrient deficiencies. They will also find information about your previous growth cycles, and whether or not they were normal."

With that said, Madame Pomfrey began to wave her wand around his body. The wand flashed different colors and patterns, and then with another spell the data was transferred to paper. Harry didn't know what it said, but Madame Pomfrey was frowning a lot.

"According to this, Mr. Potter, many of your previous growth cycles were stunted as a result of malnutrition."

Looking at Harry's tightlipped face she knew he wouldn't reveal anything. Nevertheless she was resolved to speak with the headmaster later. It would not do for any of their students to be starved over the summers.

"There are potions you can take to fix that. They are called growth potions, and the way they work is they trick the body into going into an old growth cycle again. If you are eating properly the second time around, your body will get the benefit of the growth cycle and you will grow taller. Therefore, if a person who always ate properly took a growth potion, nothing would happen to them. I will give you a potions regiment of the Growth Potions, but I want it to have maximum effect so I'm going to put you on a very specific diet. Based on the nutrient information I got from the body scans I'm going to recommend you eat the foods listed here in these amounts. I want you to go on the diet for two weeks before you start the growth potions, just so that your body can get used to the nutrients before the potions are introduced. I'll also give you some nutrient potions to make up anything that might be missing in the food. Does this sound fine, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you for your help."

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Potter. Come by on the last day of school and I'll have all the potions ready for you to pick up."

Harry thanked her again and then went outside once more. In the relative peace and quiet of the grounds by Hagrid's hut, Harry was able to summon Dobby to him without anyone noticing. At first he wasn't sure it would work. He just called Dobby's name loudly, and then, a moment later.

"Harry Potter call Dobby here, sir?"

"Yes, Dobby."

"What can Dobby do for sir?" Dobby said with his high-pitched, expectant voice.

"I was wondering Dobby, I know you're a free elf now, but I was wondering if you could do some work for me over the summer."

"Dobby be honored to work for Harry Potter, sir, only Dobby want paying for his work now, sir." Dobby said this abashedly, as though he was ashamed of this desire.

"That's not a problem Dobby, are ten galleons a week enough?"

"That is too much money, Harry Potter sir, Dobby only accept two galleons a week, sir."

"Okay Dobby, if that is what you want I'll give you two galleons a week." Here, Harry paused for a moment to let Dobby object, but he was silent, so Harry continued. "I need you to make food for me over the summer. I'll go out and buy the ingredients you need to make the food, and I'll need you to make breakfast lunch and dinner for me. I have a list of my dietary needs from Madame Pomfrey—this is the food that she wants me to eat, so that I'll be healthy and it's very important that you make the food that it says to here. I'll also need help getting my chores done at the Dursleys. I'll get a lot of chores, and it will be very important for you to be invisible when you work and not draw attention to yourself, so the muggles won't know that I'm using magic to get the work done. Is that okay?"

"Yes, this is fine with Dobby, sir."

When Harry went to bed that day, he did so with a smile on his face. Everything seemed to be falling into place, and perhaps, finally, he would have a decent summer. With those thoughts on his mind, Harry fell asleep quite easily. No dreams bothered him that night.

_Author's Note: Hi everyone. First, I'd like to thank ElDani once again for being my beta and editing my chapter. I would also like to thank all of my reviewers, with a special thanks to ladysavay for suggesting that Harry talk to Neville about the wizarding world. Reviews help me a lot by letting me know what people think of the chapter as well as giving me ideas for the next chapters. Please take the time to leave a few words, since I always wait for some reviews before starting to write the next chapter. Thanks, blaaah92._


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